Zao Wou-Ki's 04.01.79, seen on exhibition during our spring Taipei viewing
1. Zao Wou-Ki to Banksy: Our modern-to-contemporary approach pays dividends
Throughout 2018, we continued to present the very best of international modern and contemporary works in Asia, a strategy that has resulted in record sales, innovative and exciting exhibitions and a significant increase in client activity and engagement across the region.
The year began with the unveiling of Zao Wou-Ki's 04.01.79 from 1979 during Art Basel Hong Kong at the Mandarin Oriental, which went on to be the star lot of our spring 20th Century & Contemporary Art & Design Evening Sale. It was the Chinese artist's largest painting from the 1970s to ever come to auction and embodied the stylistic transition from his middle-to-late period of abstract paintings. With Jonathan Crockett at the rostrum, the painting realized HK$69,850,000.
Our Hong Kong season concluded in December with Banksy: Who's Laughing Now?, a selling exhibition that ignited worldwide attention and record footfall to our Hong Kong gallery. All hailing from an important European collection, the 27 unique works and prints by enigmatic British street artist Banksy included significant and previously unseen artworks like the six-meter long Laughing Now.
This curatorial approach—a hallmark for Phillips globally—was met with enthusiasm from buyers around the world. In what became a record year for the business in Asia, our auctions spanning 20th and 21st-century art, design, jewels and watches amassed HK$441 million in the spring and HK$305 million in the autumn.
2. Launch of new Asia headquarters and galleries
Reflecting our growing presence in both Hong Kong and the region, this spring we opened a new headquarters and gallery space within the prestigious St. George's Building in Central Hong Kong. The gallery launched with Hong Kong. Spotlight. Now., our debut selling exhibition presenting a spectrum of covetable artists and designers including Keith Haring, Alessandro Mendini, Liu Ye and Rudolf Stingel.
Outside of Hong Kong, we cemented our presence in Shanghai with the appointment of Wenjia Zhang in January, and in Singapore with the appointment of Christine Fernando in September.
Chairman Cheyenne Westphal and Deputy Chairman Jonathan Crockett participate in the opening ceremony for Phillips Hong Kong at 14/F, St. George's Building
3. Activations during Art Basel Hong Kong
Keeping pace within a frenzied week at the end of March, Phillips was the premiere sponsor of Harbour Arts Sculpture Park—the city's first exhibition of large-scale outdoor sculpture set against the dramatic Hong Kong skyline. As part of this partnership, Jonathan Crockett interviewed the park's Co-Curator Fumio Nanjo about his approach to combining Eastern and Western artists and his expectations for the future of Hong Kong as an international art center.
Installation views of Wong Chi-Yung The Memories from The Tower of Light, 2017 and Yayoi Kusama Pumpkin: big, 2008. © Harbour Arts Sculpture Park
We also joined up with specialists Sandy Ma and Charlotte Raybaud on the ground in Hong Kong and regional director Wenjia Zhang in Shanghai, previewing major new gallery shows of Wolfgang Tillmans, Yoshitomo Nara, KAWS, Christopher Wool and Tomás Saraceno in the region.
4. PHILLIPS X arrives in Asia
Hong Kong. Spotlight. Now. ushered in PHILLIPS X, our new global program of selling exhibitions under the leadership of Deputy Chairman and Head of Private Sales, Miety Heiden. Following that first show, a trio of exhibitions took over our Hong Kong gallery throughout the autumn. In September, Perpetual Colors balanced lively and bright works by three artists across two generations: Sam Francis, Walasse Ting and Ayako Rokakku. Artist Rokakku joined us in the gallery to demonstrate her painterly practice.
Just a few days later, Monochrome Beauty swung the color palette in the exact opposite direction, as restrained works on paper by Yui-chi Inoue were placed alongside minimalist ceramic pieces by Shiro Tsujimura.
And new ways to buy were not limited to 20th Century and Contemporary Art, as Hong Kong hosted our first selling exhition for Watches in October. The year closed with Banksy: Who’s Laughing Now?. This tribute to the anonymous British street artist ran the gamut from significant, unique works to a wide range of prints. The show's opening reception paid homage to the artist's now-famous motif, Girl with Balloon.
5. Sought-after jewels and gemstones
In our Jewels division, we partnered with Tracy Chu Tsin-suet, a Hong Kong-born Canadian actress and former winner of Miss Hong Kong. Tracy Chu took over our Phillips Jewels Instagram and presented her favorite pieces from our spring auction of Jewels and Jadeite, which was headlined by a jadeite cabochon and diamond necklace and matching pair of earrings selling for HK$19,300,000.
Signed pieces and rare gemstones drew significant interest during our autumn season as well. The top lot in November's Jewels and Jadeite sale was a Cartier unique diamond and gem-set 'Jambi' necklace and matching pair of pendant earrings, which achieved HK$10,780,000. The 43.4-carat necklace, featuring harp-shaped motifs set with black onyx and brilliant-cut diamonds, is representative of the jewelry house's fascination with exoticism. Jambi is a province in modern-day Sumatra, Indonesia and was one of the two major centers of the Srivijaya empire that flourished between the 7th and the 13th centuries. Jacques Cartier made frequent visits to India in the early 20th century, and this particular demi-parure set stems from Cartier's Route des Indes and Inde Mysterieuse high jewelry collections in the 1990s-2000s.
Auctioneer Aurel Bacs hammers the top lot from our autumn Jewels auction, the HK$10.8 million Cartier 'Jambi' set
6. Record-breaking activity in Watches
Clients get a closer look at watches during our first ever preview in Bangkok, Thailand
2018 witnessed record interest from global bidders in Watches. Our Asia sales totaled HK$235 million and, in the autumn season alone, saw bidding activity from 50 countries in 6 continents with over 500 bidders online. Our Watches auctions in Hong Kong pride themselves on bringing contemporary independent watchmaking to the fore—evidenced by rare and unusual models by Hublot, Alain Silberstein, MB & F, Urwerk, Richard Mille and others. Outside of Hong Kong, Thomas Perazzi, Head of Watches, Asia, led our first ever preview in Bangkok ahead of November's live auction.
As we continue to champion and grow the contemporary end of the industry, we partnered with Hublot on an intimate cocktail party during the spring season. In addition, Phillips partnered with Revolution for an Instagram takeover and event in Singapore, as well as with Ferrari for a preview at their space in Repulse Bay. We were the only auction house to sponsor the Shanghai Watch Festival, which had record attendance.
Phillips Watches x Hublot cocktail event
It was a vintage Rolex Daytona, however, that stole the spotlight yet again. On the heels of selling the record wristwatch at auction last fall in New York—Paul Newman's very own "Paul Newman" Rolex Daytona—a Rolex Ref. 6241 "John Player Special" with "Paul Newman" dial grabbed the top price of the year in Asia, fetching HK$6,100,000. The Reference 6241 was manufactured from approximately 1966 to 1969, with fewer than 300 cased in 18K yellow gold, and is among the rarest Daytona models ever produced.
The Rolex Ref. 6241 "John Player Special" soared to HK$6.1 million, making it the top-selling watch of the year for Phillips Asia
7. Pioneers of Modernism
This past spring in 20th Century & Contemporary Art, we were extremely pleased to present Pioneers of Modernism: A Selection from the Scheeres Collection. Offered within our Evening Sale on 27 May, the collection was 'white-glove' (100% sold) and boasted a new auction record for the London-educated Taiwanese artist Richard Lin—his work on paper Three Four Five, 1969, achieving HK$5,140,000 (US$655,350) in the saleroom.
Working with collector Nick Scheeres granted us the opportunity to sit down with Zhang Xiaogang. In our exclusive interview with the Bloodline artist, he elaborated on his seminal series and his use of personal memories to represent an entire generation through painting.
CEO Ed Dolman reflects on Zhang Xiaogang Bloodline: Big Family No.9, 1996, the star lot from Pioneers of Modernism: A Selection from the Scheeres Collection
8. New artist records coupled with a brand new Hong Kong Day Sale
Our growing momentum crystallized in the form of an inaugural 20th Century & Contemporary Art & Design Day Sale in Hong Kong this November, which saw unrivaled sell-through rates. The sale was 90% sold by value and 100% sold in Southeast Asian modern and contemporary art; further, it delivered our best-ever results for modern and collectible design in the region. We will continue with our trademark approach of curating cross-category sales in Asia into 2019, as we look to showcase rare examples of modern Italian, Danish, French and contemporary design alongside art.
In addition to appointing Charlotte Raybaud as our Head of Day Sale, accompanying Sandy Ma in her role as Head of Evening Sale, we were joined in 2018 by Isaure de Viel Castel, Head of Department, 20th Century and Contemporary Art, Asia, as well as Clara Rivollet, a Paris-based international specialist with a focus on Asia.
Works by KAWS and Banksy highlighted our viewing of 20th Century & Contemporary Art & Design at the Mandarin Oriental this November
While the year in Asia, at large, was defined by strong results for Yayoi Kusama, KAWS and Leonard-Tsuguharu Foujita, it was punctuated by new artist records for Japanese painter Tomoo Gokita—later broken at Phillips New York in November—and African American artist Stanley Whitney.
